The other Jeremy: Lamb seeks own identity

Rockets rookie guard Jeremy Lamb did not bother with the usual media day bravado. As much as Kevin McHale has spoken of how hard he will expect his charges to work, Lamb has gotten the idea that his first training camp will be more of a boot camp.

“I’m a little nervous,” Lamb said. “Everybody is talking about, ‘Oh, it’s going to be hard, and Coach is going to be on you.’ So I’m a little nervous. But it’s going to be fun to start. It’s going to be exciting.”

Lamb will be among at least four rookies, with the Rockets likely to have more on the opening-day roster. They likely will have at least seven first- or second-year players, with several more in position to make the team.

“I don’t know what to expect,” Lamb said. “I assume since there are a lot of young guys, it’s going to be tough and they’re going to really get us ready. At the end of the day, whether it’s vets or rookies, I think Coach will really work us. That’s what he said from the beginning. Either way, we’re going to work hard.”

McHale said there could be confusion when he needs to yell at Jeremy Lamb or Jeremy Lin, but so far Lamb said he has not been assigned a nickname to make things clearer.

“He still confuses it himself,” Lamb said. “He called me Jeremy Lin one day. He was like, ‘C’mon, Jeremy Lin!’ I was like, ‘What you call me, Coach?’ He said, ‘Whatever.’ ”